“What? You think I don’t have a right to know? You think none of us have a right to know? We’ve never waited this long to get paid for shit like this.”
“You wouldn't know. This is only your second time doing something like this.”
He snickered. “And after the shit I pulled on my bike to get that client back to his hotel room in one piece, I know it won’t be the last.”
I narrowed my eyes. “The hell does that mean?”
The sound of Rupert’s bike pierced the air as I sucked hard on my cigarette. Benji put his out on the ground, stomping on it with his foot. Trying to look all tough, when really he thought this lifestyle was nothing but loose women and big bucks. I rolled my eyes and took another drag from my cigarette. The nicotine and smoke were the only things keeping my pain levels down right now. Because this healing shoulder was a fucking bitch. If the bruise it left behind wasn’t throbbing, the wound itself itched. Not to mention how many times I had to slather that bitch in alcohol just to make sure it didn’t get infected.
Sometimes, even I hated this fucking life.
“Boys,” Rupert said.
He parked his bike on the curb and I walked toward him, leaving Benji and both of our bikes back near the dorm door.
“Hey, Rupert,” I said.
He pulled out a cigarette and I handed him mine. I watched him light his as Benji trotted up behind us. Rupert stared at me with a flat expression, one he always gave me when Benji was around. And I knew what he was thinking. The same thing he was always thinking when he didn’t want to say it.
Haven’t broken the boy’s heart yet?
Rupert handed my cigarette back to me and I took another drag. The anger I still had at how this job and shit with my father had gone down had me vibrating in my damn boots. I didn’t know how to approach the subject with anyone. At my brother’s insistence, I knew I had to tell them soon. I couldn’t keep ‘paying’ the boys out of my own pocket whenever they needed a loan or some shit. We deserved the money we were owed. All of us had plans for that money.
Which meant I had to find a way to get it. And fast.
“So, Rupert. You think I should be on the team?” Benji asked.
I glared at him. “Shut up.”
Rupert snickered. “What team? Ain’t no sports team around here, as far as I’m concerned.”
Benji rolled his eyes. “Dude, you know what I mean.”
Rupert mocked him. “Dude, shut up.”
I puffed out smoke. “Both of you shut up.”
They each looked at me with quizzical expressions and a furrowed brow before I looked at my cousin.
“You. Go.”
Benji blinked. “What?”
“Away. I need to talk to Rupert.”
“And you can’t say it in front of me?”
“No.”
He scoffed. “Why the fuck not?”
I glared at him. “Because it’s official crew business.”
“Well, if you just made me an offi--”
“Now,” I said hotly.
I took a step toward Benji and he held up his hands.